Conscripted
by broomstick flyer
Summary: A different fourth year story where being conscripted into the Tri-Wizard tournament leads to a different life for Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. As its a one shot there is not much I can say here without spoiling the story for my reader.


Disclaimer, If I was J.K. Rowling then I would have Dropped Ron from the story, in the real world jealous, angry, greedy, people like Ron don't do well finding and becoming friends of people like Harry and Hermione.

.

Conscripted, by Merlinsaprentice1.

.

Fourteen year old Harry James Potter conscripted very unwillingly into the dangerous, and as far as he was concerned totally stupid Tri Wizard Tournament, was quite an accomplished young dancer after having to accompany his huge cousin to the dance class for several years. Classes that both aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon insisted on, as aunt Petunia was so fond of saying to Harry each week "One never knows when someone with our position in the upper society of little whinging will be called upon to attend a ball. Now Dudley needs to be ready and able to dance and like it or not you boy, yes you boy, will accompany him so he is not alone." Harry had truly loved the dancing and found he had a natural grace and an aptitude for it.

So when professor McGonagall announced that there was to be a Yule Ball as part of the tri wizard tournament. Harry's sole concern was deciding if he would bother to attend the ball at all, and if he did so when to ask Hermione to go with him as his partner. Remembering what Mr Adams the dance instructor had said repeatedly about siblings or very close friends being the best partners for the younger ones to begin their professional dancing careers with, he instantly decided that if he was going to go he would only ask Hermione.

The only problem he had with that was he did not think he should attend. Just like the rest of the tournament, they were trying to force the ball on him by telling him he had no choice as a champion but to go to the ball and lead off with the first dance. The ball being a few weeks away gave him time to give the whole thing some deep thought, he didn't really want to be in the fiasco in the first place, and if it were not for the magical contract he would have definitely refused to enter the arena to fight that damn dragon.

With almost three full weeks left until the ball Harry finally decided he would go to ask Hermione if she needed a partner. She did after all deserve some respect for all the loyalty she had shown him and for all the help she had been in teaching him the various spells he might need. That and all the care and affection she had shown for him, which he acknowledged to him self far out weighed his support and help offered to her in return. What better way could he show her how he felt about her, and how grateful he was to her for everything she did for him.

So if she had not already been asked, which he doubted would be the case, because she was becoming quite a beauty now, having lost that plain Jane look as she had gotten older and her body had started to fill out in all the right places. He had also noticed other boys had noticed how she had changed and he thought they were all sure to ask her.

Harry caught up with Hermione as they made their way to the charms class and quickly side tracked her, leading her into an empty room. "Hermione do you need a partner for the ball?" he asked just a little nervously.

Hermione looked at him in surprise which quickly turned to a slightly disappointed look "Oh Harry I'm so sorry I already have a date." She answered sounding as disappointed as she looked.

Harry was totally surprised by his reaction to her answer. He had been expecting this answer and he had been turned down quite often before when the dance school had held dances simply for fun, so he was used to refusals, mainly caused by Dudley's interference. Hermione already having a date should not be bothering him as much as it was.

With Hermione's admission that she had already been asked and the disappointed look she had that he had asked her he felt almost devastated. These sudden feelings of hate and jealousy for who ever asked his Hermione for a date reared up inside him almost making him lose his temper, but with quite a lot of effort he remembered his plans and what he was going to say.

"No Hermione, it's alright, I actually expected you to already have a date. I mean what with you being one of the better looking girls in the school, so yeah its ok. I'm pleased for you and I hope you enjoy the night." Harry realised he was beginning to babble so closed his mouth and tried to convince him self he actually was pleased for her.

"I'll save you a dance, I promise," Hermione told him when she noticed his body language did not match his words, she knew him well enough to know he was angry.

"No that won't be necessary, I'll not be going now I know for certain you have a date, there's no one else I'd want to go with," Harry replied without thinking.

"Harry James what do you mean by that? Why would my having a date stop you from going? What's wrong with asking someone else?" Hermione demanded to know.

Harry was still slightly of kilter due to his earlier reaction and feelings of intense jealousy. "Well I started by deciding not to go, then I thought that I should ask you, then I decided to make sure if you were already going… and it took me a while to get the courage to ask you… and now I can sit back and return to my first plan… and I will not be going, so you should… I… we should go to class… yes we should go to class now."

Harry quickly left the room leaving Hermione standing and wondering what had just been said, '_what did Harry mean_? _And the reaction in his eyes when I said I had a date._' She had never seen him have that kind of look before; it was a look of real anger mixed with something like acute jealousy and disappointment. '_Does this mean Harry has more than friendly feelings for me?'_

Hermione arrived at the charms class five minutes late still trying to work out what had happened and what was happening with Harry. She eventually made her mind up to talk to him as soon as she could. Another twenty minutes passed and like most girls her age she changed her mind, having now decided that what Harry had said was to simply cover his disappointment at not having a date for the dance yet, and what she thought she saw in his eyes was just wishful thinking. She would put it out of her mind and maybe she would still save him a dance.

Harry tried hard to put his reaction to Hermione going to the ball with some one other than him out of his mind, and then to put all thoughts of going to the ball out of his mind altogether. He was not going so he did not require a dance partner; knowing what he now knew thanks to Sirius he was not willing to be used anymore by these stupid tournament officials.

On the eve of the ball Harry sat on his bed as Ron and his other dorm mates got themselves ready. Ron kept making comments about Harry not being popular enough to get a date, while Neville tried to commiserate and said that he agreed with Harry's decision.

As people began to collect out side the great hall, Hermione stood talking to her date the famous Quidditch star Viktor Krum. She was so excited about going to her very first ball, on her very first date, that was actually with a world famous Quidditch player that she never even gave Harry a thought. Harry took out his broom and not wanting to pass everyone outside the great hall as he went for a flight; he opened the dorm window behind his bed and launched himself into the night sky. A good flight always made him feel better; it would help take his mind off what Hermione was doing.

As the throng of people waiting to enter the great hall grew, professor McGonagall opened the doors and admitted the masses, while she called the champions to line up ready to make their entrance. It wasn't until then she noticed she only had three champions lined up. She realised Harry Potter was not yet with them. After rushing in to the great hall and calling professor Flitwick to take over her duties for a short time while she went to hurry Mr Potter along, she rushed off in search of the Hogwarts second champion.

Flitwick led the three champions and their dates into the hall and up to the head table where they took their seats. Hermione was enjoying her self as she discussed things with Viktor Krum and the other people at the table and still she gave no thought to her best friend Harry who had not shown up yet. She hadn't even noticed his absence as she chatted happily with Viktor.

Half way through the meal Viktor pointed out to Hermione that there seemed to be some problem as professor McGonagall was whispering fervently into Dumbledore's ear. Dumbledore looked annoyed and looked around the hall as though looking for someone, there was a slight look of panic in his face as he rose from his seat and accompanied McGonagall from the hall at quite a speed considering their ages. Hermione finally realised she had not seen Harry yet but as Viktor began to talk to her again she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind and returned her attention back to the Bulgarian.

Harry spent a little over an hour flying out over the forest trying to find some sense for his feelings of anger, betrayal, and hurt, then just after he had been flying for an hour and a quarter he finally realised what his feelings for Hermione were. What he felt was the one feeling he had never felt or seen evidence of as he grew up at the Dursleys, it was a feeling he knew he would never have for anyone else. His eyes widened as he worked out he loved his best friend. His best friend who was in the great hall dancing with some guy he didn't even know. Anger filled him again and try as he might he could not rid himself of it.

Harry feeling angry at the entire world landed on the lawns outside the front of the school a lot faster than he would normally when he landed, then slamming his broom over his shoulder he stormed in to the castle through the entrance hall where he ran into two angry professors. Dumbledore was speaking in his usual condescending grandfatherly voice while professor McGonagall scowled at him and complained about his behaviour disrupting everyone's plans.

Harry out right refused to accompany the two staff members into the great hall, and told them he had no intention of taking any part in the stupid dance. Then he turned around and stormed off toward the stairs. Dumbledore though had different ideas and he simply petrified Harry and then levitated the unruly boy into the hall leaving Harry's Firebolt broom lying on the stairs.

Harry once in the hall still refused to participate in the ball and simply remained standing where Dumbledore had placed him. After fifteen minutes of Harry's defiance, professor Snape thought that he needed a lesson and hoping to humiliate the boy, he levitated Harry into the middle of the dance floor. Harry still adamant he was not going to be a part of the damn ball stood his ground with his arms folded across his chest in defiance, not moving from where Snape had put him.

Students soon began to taunt and laugh at Harry after he had stood in the middle of the dance floor unmoving for ten minutes, finding it amusing that the great Harry Potter was standing like some kind of fool in the middle of the dance floor with no partner to dance with. The taunting quickly spread through the students there, even Ron said a few not so nice things about Harry being scared of tripping over if he so much as moved a toe. But none of it bothered Harry, he had always had to put up with something similar from his fellow students from the very first day he had arrived at the school. So he remained standing where he was until Viktor Krum with Hermione on his arm began to taunt him. He accused Harry of being a coward and a wimp, too scared to even move.

Harry stood and took it all until Hermione chuckled loudly at something Krum said about him. As she stood there and chuckled quite loudly at Viktor's comment, Harry's temper began to rise above his ability to control it and his magic began to escape him causing lightning like flashes to shoot out over the dance floor. Students and staff alike scuttled out of the way and quickly cleared the dance floor.

After several long seconds Harry stormed over to the band who had all ceased playing to watch what was happening. Having spoken to the band leader, Harry turned and walked over to Hermione and grabbing her hand he dragged her back into the middle of the dance floor. With the lightening like flashes of magic still keeping the dance floor clear Harry nodded to the band leader. As the music started Harry forcefully dragged Hermione into his arms and commenced to dance her legs off, showing just how very good he was at dancing, the first dance was a waltz and Harry simply glided around the dance floor with Hermione looking as good as any professional dancer.

After five different dance tunes and Harry being cheered by everyone around the dance floor for being an excellent professional standard dancer. Hermione had never enjoyed herself so much, and she had had no idea that her best friend could dance so well, and do so many different dances. Harry suddenly stopped almost in the exact spot they had started in.

Looking into her eyes he spoke to her for the first time that evening. "I hope you still find it bloody funny now! Well if nothing else I know my love was wasted on you don't I," Harry said with venom in his voice while looking at Hermione as though he was totally disgusted with her, before he stormed off.

After really enjoying being in his arms while she was whirled around the dance floor by Harry, and enjoying his almost professional standard dancing; she thought when they stopped dancing he might kiss her, until she heard the hardness in his voice and saw the look in his eye when he spoke to her. Hermione then began to realise just what she had done. When his words fully sank into her conscious she was suddenly horrified as she remembered laughing at one of Viktor's comments, she had actually stood and laughed at Harry in front of the whole school.

She couldn't believe she had let a date with some stranger go to her head simply because he was a famous Quidditch player that any girl in the school would do practically anything for to get a date with him, and she let it make her do something so stupid as to throw away the most precious thing in her life, her friendship with Harry, the first friend she had ever had.

Hermione ran from the hall and headed for the Gryffindor common room so that she could apologise to the boy who had been her first and possibly only ever real friend. That night and during the rest of the holiday Hermione was unable to find Harry; just like everyone else who had searched for him, from Dumbledore who was still angry, to Ginny Weasley who was disgusted with everyone, for how they always treated Harry, including her self for not standing up for him, because they had almost all laughed at him that night, until he showed them all up by being the best dancer in the school by far.

Harry wasn't seen in the school again until he walked into the transfiguration class after the holiday was over. The first class of the new term, McGonagall asked where he had been and his reply was that it was none of her business where he went during the school holidays. He told Dumbledore exactly the same thing, although Dumbledore was extremely angry Harry still refused to tell them. All he would say was, "Where I go during the holidays is non of your business."

When Ron tried to strike up a conversation with him Harry simply told him to go away, but in a less polite manner, adding "I don't consider someone who calls me a liar for half the year, and then takes enjoyment from trying to make me look a fool in front of everyone any kind of friend and I never will."

When Hermione tried to speak to him after the transfiguration class Harry looked at her for a minute with pain in his eyes before he took a deep breath "What? don't tell me you want to laugh at me without your big bad boyfriend to crack a few jokes for you." He said turning away from her and opening his text book.

His comment stung Hermione and she retaliated without thinking "I'm sorry ok, I'M BLOODY SORRY! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT YOU LOUSY PRAT?" she yelled her face going red when every one in the class turned to stare at her with disbelief on their faces.

Harry looked up from the text book he had begun to flick through, everyone in the class held their breath waiting to hear his answer, even McGonagall. They all expected him to explode in anger and yell back at her but he shocked them all when he calmly answered her question.

"Nothing, nothing at all now. I wanted your love until… I don't want anything at all from you now." He said quietly and then he turned his back on her and started to study his text book again.

For the following weeks Harry refused to talk to anyone or to sit with anyone during the lessons, preferring to keep to himself. He did notice that Hermione began to lose weight and look pale and ill but he was still furiously angry that the only person he thought he could really trust had turned on him at the dance and in the class room. It did not matter how many times she tried to speak to him or said she was sorry, he was being too stubborn to even consider forgiving her, she had after all laughed at him; he was a hurt fourteen year old boy, with his fledgling ego smashed.

Hermione had tried to get her dorm mates to talk to him for her, Lavender pointed out that had she been Harry she would have slapped her face for how she behaved at the ball, and what she said in the transfiguration class also deserved a slap. Parvati commented that of everyone in the school who had been at the ball, Hermione should have been the only one with a real reason not to laugh at him, "I'm glad you are not my best friend because no one needs people like you as a friend."

Night after night Harry returned alone to the Gryffindor tower after classes were done and immediately retreated to his dorm where he would close his bed curtains and seal them before taking his broom and leaving the castle through the dorm window that was directly behind his bed. Each night he flew his broom to the shrieking shack where he joined his godfather Sirius and studied and trained as hard as he could hoping to keep his mind off Hermione Granger.

Harry had not touched the egg he retrieved from the first task of the Tri-Wizard tournament, he had no idea what the second task was and he had absolutely no interest in finding out. With Sirius's help he had found out that there was no legally binding magical contract that could work unless he had voluntarily entered his own name into the contest. Harry had no intention of playing their stupid games anymore; he was sick of the headmaster telling him what he could and could not do, he was sick of living in a world where hate was so prevalent, where the feelings of an individual meant nothing unless they were a so called pureblood. He was eagerly looking forward to the day of the second task so he could refuse to participate and then tell Dumbledore to shove the egg and his School where the sun never shines.

Sirius had confirmed that he was still Harry's legal guardian until he was charged and found guilty of some crime, and Sirius had not given Harry his permission to enter the tournament and was definitely not interested in forcing Harry into continuing in the contest or anything else at Hogwarts for that matter.

The night before the second task was due to take place Harry was leisurely flying back to Gryffindor tower after spending the night training and duelling with Sirius. Some voices below him caught his attention making him wonder who else was about at this time of the morning; he almost soundlessly dropped lower to take a look.

On the surface of the lake were what Harry assumed were mermen and three people. Two of the people were carrying some one between them and had begun to wade out into the water they then passed what looked to Harry to be a body to the mermen who then quickly submerged taking the body with them. By the moonlight Harry could make out the third person who was still standing on the banks of the lake. It was Dumbledore. Being curious as to what the old man was doing out at the lake well after midnight, Harry silently dropped even lower so he could hear all that was being said.

"Yes that's right Minerva, Miss Granger is the next one to be tied to the lake bed," Dumbledore was saying as the two dark figures lifted yet another body from the grass of the lakeside.

On hearing the name Granger Harry did not stop to think what was happening or what he was doing as he suddenly pushed his broom into action, shooting forward he pulled his wand and without even thinking about it, he rapidly shot off three really powerful confundus spells catching the people on the ground unaware and unprepared. Seconds after he began his attack, Dumbledore confused slipped and fell into the mud in a daze, he was followed by the other two people less than a second later as they turned around trying to work out where they were and what they were doing. As the two in the water fell they dropped Hermione into the water with a splash. Harry landed his broom and quickly waded out to where Hermione was floating on her back. At first glance Harry thought she was dead, and the regret and despair he suddenly felt over not speaking to her for the past few weeks almost overwhelmed him. Pulling himself together by taking a very long deep breath he picked her up bridal fashion and carried her out of the water. As he reached the muddy bank he noticed she was breathing but seemed to be under some sort of spell and he could not wake her.

As he climbed awkwardly onto his broom with Hermione still in his arms Harry noticed how thin she had become since the night of the Yule ball and it added yet another worry to his already almost panicked state. Pushing off into the air gently Harry headed toward the shrieking shack and his godfather who he hoped would know what to do.

Harry and Sirius had already made plans that they were going to set in motion at ten the following morning as most of the castles population would be involved in the second task. They would either be getting ready for the task or helping out in the task it would be the perfect time for what they had planned.

Now as Sirius sat and checked out the sleeping Hermione he shook his head before saying "She's just under a sleeping spell, but what the hell happened to her, how come nobody noticed, she's nothing but skin and bone." Sirius looked up at Harry for an answer.

Harry was shedding tears as he looked at Hermione "We'll take her home to her mother tomorrow. I don't care if she hex's me or never speaks to me again but I'm not leaving her behind. I'll not be long I'm going to collect her belongings," he said before adding "don't worry I'll be careful." Then before Sirius could say anything in reply Harry had gone.

Harry entered Hermione's dorm with no trouble at all, a fact that made him a little angry, he had not even had to use even a simple unlocking charm, the window had been wide open with no safe guards against intruders at all. A rather red faced Harry left the girls dorm the way he had entered it, thoughts of Hermione's unmentionables he had had to pack, both clean and used, were drifting through his mind, they were all white except a rather skimpy delicate and frilly set in periwinkle blue, he thought she may have worn to the ball. Entering his own dorm he took only the few things that had some sentimental value to him. He then stored them in Hermione's trunk on top of her things before he closed the trunk set the locks and shrunk it small enough to fit in his pocket.

His slight detour on the way back to the shrieking shack took him down by the lake where he took the time to hit the three confused teachers with another more powerful confundus spell. He then flew on to the shack, deposited Hermione's trunk at the base of the bed she was in, and after a few words with Sirius they decided to continue with their plan for the following morning. Harry flew back to Gryffindor tower, changed into his pyjamas and after removing all the spells except the silencing spell from around his bed he took a little sip of dreamless sleep potion he had saved and within minutes he was fast asleep and snoring quietly.

The next morning Harry had a hard time keeping his anger in check and hidden from Dumbledore and the others. Hermione was still fast asleep in the shrieking shack; he had left her just half an hour before he wandered down to the lake. The fact that every one was going about their business, and Dumbledore and McGonagall didn't look in the least bit worried, had him feeling annoyed. If he did not know it he would never guess that one of the students was missing, but considering his confundus charm had worked so well he thought it best to leave them all wondering where Hermione Granger had vanished too. Taking long deep breaths and remembering how he had hit the three teachers with confundus charms Harry strolled over toward Cedric Diggory, one of the other contestants.

As Harry chatted to Cedric, Dumbledore called over to him "Mr Potter, if you would take up your position please."

Harry turned to look at the headmaster for a moment before he spoke "It's ok, you carry on without me, I'm sure you can manage on your own."

The irritating voice of Percy Weasley then interrupted Harry "Potter, take your place so we can get this started, you have an hour to rescue what ever it is from the bottom of the lake."

Harry gave Percy a look that said 'are you crazy', before he walked to the waters edge bent down and dipped a finger into the water. "No sorry, far to cold, call me once you have warmed it up." He said as he started to walk away.

Minerva McGonagall was the next to speak "Mr Potter, what on earth do you think you are doing?" she asked in her most severe voice, the one she reserved for naughty first years.

"Me… well I thought as it is such a nice day, well I might take a walk around the lake, so I'll be off now, unless of course you want to accompany me," Harry said walking away as everyone looked on with shock, Dumbledore looked flabbergasted as Harry simply wandered away. '_This was not the way things should be going'_ he thought.

It took the organisers and the teachers far longer to react than Harry and Sirius had expected and Harry was actually just reaching the edge of the huge clearing the second task was being launched from when Dumbledore roared his name "Mr Potter! You will take part in this task; you have to rescue your friend Mr Weasley."

Harry thought it time he did a little roaring of his own so he pulled out his wand and pointed it to his throat and whispered "Sonorus," then he turned and looked once again at the headmaster. "If Mr Weasley was on fire, I would not take the time to pee on him to put it out. So even if I wanted to play in your stupid games I would not bother to get my feet wet to save that jerk," he shouted his voice loud enough to be heard inside the school.

With that Harry pulled a miniature broom from his pocket and with a quick "Finite," he removed the shrinking spell from his Firebolt, mounting the broom he gave a quick wave behind him and kicked off into the air.

Five minutes later after a circular flight he landed at the shrieking shack, two minutes after that the portkey that Sirius had acquired took them away from Hogsmeade to a destination known only to Sirius.

Harry arrived on what he saw was a sun bleached beach, the white sand stretched away for several hundred yards each way before disappearing behind an out crop of rock. The sun was low in the morning sky letting him know they were a long way from Britain. Turning he looked at his godfather "I thought we were taking Hermione home?" he said a puzzled look on his face.

"Take Hermione up to the house," Sirius said pointing behind Harry, "I'll make a portkey and fetch the Grangers here."

Harry turned to look at the white painted beach house behind him; it looked just like a picture straight out of a travel magazine. When he turned back he was alone on the beach with the still sleeping Hermione. Shrugging his shoulders Harry picked up Hermione bridal style once again and set off toward the house. "I could get used to this you know," he whispered into Hermione's ear.

Having found a bedroom Harry lay Hermione in the bed then being as careful and gentle as he could he removed her school robes, as he pulled a thin cotton sheet over her sleeping form he thought of just how mad she was going to be when she saw all the creases in her skirt and top. He thought of removing them for a moment, but just the thought made him almost too nervous to do anything at all; he dismissed the idea when he thought of just how mad with him she might be. Shrugging his shoulders he went off in search of the kitchen. In the kitchen he found a young female house elf polishing up the cutlery and singing something quietly to her self.

Harry cleared his throat rather quietly and the little elf jumped, almost falling off the chair she was sat on. "Oh master, Deedee is so sorry, Deedee never heard the master, Deedee won't let it happen again master…"

Harry had seen enough of his friend Dobby to know where things were heading, so he spoke up before she could start to punish her self. "Deedee is it? Ok calm down little one, I crept in so I could listen to you singing, it's not your fault you didn't hear me," Harry lied.

The little elf seemed to relax a little feeling that this wizard was not like the wizards her mother had told her about, she could sense an deep inner kindness in the young wizard, "Can Deedee get the master anything, sir."

Harry smiled at Deedee, he took an instant liking to her, "First I'm not the master, that's my godfather Sirius so you can call me just Harry, tell me Deedee do we have anything like chicken soup, my friend Hermione, I just placed in one of the bedrooms, I think she's been neglecting her self through worrying about me, she's awful thin and she seems to be in some sort of spell induced sleep."

"Yes just Harry, Deedee will take a look at miss Her-irony to see what she needs," with that Deedee popped out of the room.

Harry made his way back to the bedroom where he had left Hermione and quietly opened the door, seeing Hermione still lying in the bed he crept across the room, and kneeling next to the bed he began to whisper "Oh Hermione what on earth have you done to your self, don't I have enough to worry about, what with being jealous every time you smile at another boy. And you really hurt me when you were dancing with the Bulgarian cradle snatcher. I really, really like you so much more than a best friend and I'm sorry I wouldn't speak to you. I was just mad cause you laughed at me, that doesn't matter now, I just want you to wake up and start eating properly again."

Harry was shocked when he found himself suddenly being kissed eagerly by a wide awake Hermione, who had been enervated by Deedee. As she pulled back from the kiss she held his head in her hands, "I truly am sorry for what I did, I don't deserve a friend like you," she said as a tear began to trickle down her cheek.

This time it was her turn to be surprised when Harry kissed her and pulled her into a tight hug, "No sweet heart it's me who doesn't deserve you,"

"Ok so have we decided we both don't deserve each other yet?" asked a deep male voice from the door way.

"Leave them alone Richard, can't you see your little girl is in love," a female voice came from some where out in the hallway.

Hermione's eyes shot wide open "Dad, Mum, what are you doing at Hogwarts, it says in Hogwarts a history that Muggles can't see the castle."

"She must be worse than we thought," Sirius's voice boomed from down the hall, "if she thinks this place is Hogwarts."

"Sirius I'm afraid all she had eyes for was Harry, I don't think she has even bothered to look around yet," Helen Granger said with a chuckle.

While gaping open mouthed at Hermione's parents Harry felt a small tugging on his sleeve. Looking down he saw Deedee holding a goblet of potion, "Excuse me please just Harry, I need to see to miss irony,"

Harry moved away from Hermione to allow the elf to do her work. And watched as the little elf took charge, "Now miss irony you drink all Deedee's potion down, make you good and strong like new ok," Deedee said not really giving Hermione a choice as she poured the potion into her mouth.

As Sirius entered the room with a rather serious look on his face Harry knew he was about to explain to the Granger family where they were. He sat back and listened carefully to what his godfather was saying until he saw the thunder clouds begin to develop in Hermione's eyes as she started to realise that they were not any longer at Hogwarts and that meant that there would be no more classes, she would miss out on her education. When Sirius casually told her not to worry about her things, because Harry had packed everything for her, including her unmentionables. Harry decided it was time he was not around. Getting up he rushed for the door calling back that he was going for a swim. He heard Hermione start to stammer about him packing her undies and he started to jog toward the beach just as he heard her shout "Harry James Potter, you get back here."

An hour and a half later a rather hungry but still worried Harry was sitting on a rock watching the waves as they broke on the sand. The quiet female voice behind him broke him out of his thoughts with a start. "What you thinking about Harry?" Mrs Granger asked smiling at him.

"Oh nothing important, is Hermione still mad at me for bringing her here?" he replied just as quietly as she spoke.

"She's asleep at the moment, Deedee says she'll sleep for a few more hours while the potion she was given does its work," Mrs Granger said as she sat next to him on the rock. "Sirius explained to us why you would not leave her behind, as far as I'm concerned you did the right thing. The staff at Hogwarts should have noticed how thin she was getting and done something about it."

"It's all my fault, I wouldn't speak to her, I was angry and hurt and stupid," he said as tears dripped from his chin.

"You want to tell me what happened between you two?" Mrs Granger asked as she wiped his tears away with a delicate handkerchief.

Harry sat there and told Hermione's mum all about the ball and about what Hermione had shouted at him in class, and how each time he felt really humiliated and hurt. That led him to tell her how he felt about her daughter and how he had hoped that one day she would feel the same for him. "Now I bet she won't ever speak to me again." He said as he ended his story.

"Oh I don't know about that, Hermione seemed rather happy when Sirius told her about the private tutors he had arranged to come live on the island and teach you both everything you need to learn to obtain your Owls and NEWTS," Mrs Granger said with a small chuckle.

"Richard and I have decided we would like to stay for a while as well. It seems we are the only ones on the island it being private property, so there are no stupid underage magic or secrecy laws to stop us seeing what they were teaching you at Hogwarts. I'm rather looking forward to it, we have been waiting for four years to see our daughter perform some real magic," she said smiling at the young man who had just bared his soul to her. She found she liked him and she was feeling sympathetic toward him about how Hermione had treated him. She decided she would need to have a talk to her off spring, first about what she did at the ball and in the classroom humiliating her friend, and then the mother daughter talk, which from what she had seen between Hermione and Harry she thought was a little over due.

"So Harry ready for some lunch?" she asked as she stood to return to the house.

The next morning a blushing Hermione once again told Harry she was sorry, and she explained she now understood just how humiliated he had been at the ball and how her reaction and laughing at him was far from the reaction he should have expected of a friend. She also once again apologised for her out burst in the class room. As Harry took her hand in his she blushed even deeper "I never meant to upset you, and I don't think I really understood until mum gave me 'The' rather descriptive talk last night. I also want to promise I'll try not to jump to conclusions so quickly in the future like I did last night when I thought you had been messing about with my knickers, can you ever forgive me and allow me to be your best friend again?" she said looking down at their joined hands.

"I'll forgive you if you will be my girlfriend," Harry said with a shy grin on his red face, "besides you never know, I might want to mess about with your knickers at some time in the future." '_Or at least what's in them' _he thought while smiling on the inside.

Just as Hermione answered first with a small giggle and then with a 'yes' and a slightly passionate kiss, they both heard Sirius call Harry down to the kitchen. Harry with a rather dazed look on his face made his way down stairs and into the kitchen where Sirius was waiting for him.

Quite some time later after being given an extremely graphic and very detailed description of the female sex organs and their uses, in a father son type talk from Sirius, who Harry was totally convinced had never in his entire life blushed or been embarrassed. A very red faced Harry raced up to his room to wait for his face to regain its normal colour and his heart to stop racing every time he thought about Hermione and those tiny blue knickers and exactly what it was she kept covered up with them, and according to Sirius the apparently heavenly indescribable pleasures hidden there.

Sleep was hard for both Harry and Hermione that night as they both had their active imaginations working over time thanks to the sex talks they had received. The talk and their reactions to the kisses they had shared caused them both to have what might well have been described as wet dreams that night and several nights after.

Two years later Harry and Hermione both sat nervously at the dinner table, each of them staring down at a buff coloured envelope that sat in front of them. Both letters were sealed with the official seal of the Wizarding government of the Bahamas. Finally Hermione could stand the tension no longer and lifting the envelope she began to open it "I suppose we really should see how badly we failed," she said to her boyfriend.

Harry watched her with a look of disbelief on his face "How on earth can you have failed Hermione, you're brilliant. I bet you got an outstanding on every subject, I'll even go as far as to bet you a dozen snogs that you have the highest NEWT scores ever recorded," he said as he lifted his letter and started to open it.

Hermione slowly placed her letter back into the envelope and let out a very relieved sigh.

"Well how did you do?" Harry asked still looking at his own results.

"I got Outstanding plus in every subject except Domestic, I only got an E for that, but I knew I had not done so well with that one, I just couldn't for the life of me remember the charm for ironing and pressing men's clothes. How did you do love?" she answered with a huge smile.

Harry looked up from the paper he held in front of him "Ten Outstanding's two exceeds expectations, and one outstanding plus," Harry answered passing his NEWT results over for Hermione to look at.

That night there was a party thrown by Sirius and the Grangers to celebrate the two teens passing their exams a year early. They had invited all the people who had taught the teens for the past two years to the celebration. There were only two tutors from Britain. Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks had joined the family as permanent residents shortly after they had arrived on the island. All the other eleven tutors came from various parts of the Bahamas to teach their skills to the two teens.

The party that night was the very first time all of them had been in the same place together at the same time, which Harry was soon feeling very thankful for. As the party got into full swing, Deedee and several other elves kept up the supply of beverages and food while Sirius started the dancing by asking the Domestic charms teacher Andrea Fairweather to dance with him. Andrea had been on several dates with Sirius and was now regarded by Harry, Hermione and the elder Grangers as part of the family. Just as Hermione dragged Harry into the middle of the floor space cleared for dancing there was a thunderous knocking on the front door of the house.

Deedee rushed into the room to tell Sirius that there was a Mr Bungles galore, at the front door and he was insisting he speak to Miss Irony. Before Deedee even finished speaking Albus Dumbledore stormed into the room like some sort of demented villain only to be hit by several stunners before he could say a word, the stunned Dumbledore was bound firmly and sat in a chair at the back of the room while the dancing got going once again.

Thirty five minutes later a bound silenced and extremely angry Dumbledore woke and tried everything he knew to remove the spells that held him tied. Having failed he sat back to listen to the celebration behind him and tried to calm down. Reading about Hermione's NEWT scores that had been presented to the ICW as the highest scores ever by the youngest witch to have passed every exam for as long as the exams had existed had been most fortuitous. Not only had he found Miss Granger who had somehow gone missing from the bottom of the Black Lake during the tri-wizard tournament, he had also found the very boy he had been searching for, for the past two years or more.

It was late the following morning before anyone stirred, Harry and Sirius both arrived in the kitchen at the same time, followed a short time later by the three Grangers. Deedee had just finished serving them breakfast when they were reminded about Dumbledore being in the dinning room, still bound to a hard back chair when the young elf asked if she should feed the growling man.

Sirius thought about what Dumbledore had knowingly sent his godson to suffer from at the hands of the Dursleys and told Deedee she was to give the evil old man nothing except a little water. Dumbledore was sitting feeling truly sorry for him self, his butt hurt from hours of sitting in the hard back chair, he had cramp in his legs from the restricted movement and he had not eaten since lunch the day before. The night before he had woken to find himself sitting in a corner on a hardback chair, facing the wall like a naughty child. He was bound and silenced and suffering from a rather severe headache, he was also in pain caused no doubt by the stunners he had so foolishly allowed him self to be hit with.

Anger flared in his chest as the delicious aroma's of breakfast caused his stomach to rumble and call out to be filled, all he got was a small glass of water that was hand fed to him by a house elf. "Could I get some food please?" he asked trying to remain calm.

Sirius's voice echoed around the dining room as he said quite loudly "Water is more than the Dursleys gave Harry when he was being punished for his imaginary transgressions against them, so food for you will not be provided in this house you evil old sod, because your transgressions are not imagined."

Dumbledore tried to turn to see where Sirius was but found it impossible, "Sirius old friend it's good to hear your voice, would you be so kind as to set me free. We need to take Harry back to Hogwarts, there are things that only he can do."

Sirius laughed loudly at how stupid and single minded the old man was, "Oh this one I have to tell Harry," he said as he exited to room leaving the old man still looking at a blank wall.

Two hours later Albus Dumbledore heard some one approaching him from his left, trying to turn his now very painfully stiff neck he asked "Who's there?"

"Hello 'Dumb as a door', so what do you think of the wall paper, Sirius chose it of course but Hermione and I find it rather relaxing when we eat." Harry said a huge grin on his face at the discomfort shown by the old manipulator.

"Harry my boy, we must talk, there are things you need to hear. You should release me and return with me to Hogwarts. You need to finish your education, and there are some things to be done that only you can do." Dumbledore said using his best grandfather voice on the boy he could not see.

"Listen carefully old man, because we won't be meeting again after today. I would not return to Britain even to piss on your grave, there is nothing for me in a world of sheep that hate me for being different. I don't really care if every one of them ends up as Riddle's slaves. None of you ever did anything but cause me pain, and you were the worst of them all.

Oh yes I have a friend here who is going to practice one of your favourite charms, I thought it rather ironic that what you do to others without regret just to have your own way will become your fate." Harry said as a door behind him opened.

Albus Dumbledore awoke in the spell damage ward of St Mungo's. The past twenty five years irretrievably removed from his memory. According to his Healer some one had used a spell, charm and potion combination to ensure they succeeded in permanently removing his memories and all knowledge accrued during the last twenty five years of his life. They had then simply left him under a sleeping spell on the hospital doorstep wrapped in a tatty old blanket, rather like leaving a bottle of milk.

For the first time since he reached adulthood Albus Dumbledore regretted being so secretive. He knew that what ever had been removed from his mind would not be known by any other soul alive, it was now gone for ever. He regretted the fact that he so often obliviated people after learning something from them.

Three months had passed since Harry and Hermione had received their NEWTs results, and as was usual for the two teens they were taking their Sunday evening stroll across the beach. In two weeks it would be Harry's seventeenth birthday, the age when he would officially become an adult, and the day when he would inherit the Potter family monies businesses and land. There was one thing he wanted to do before that day and he had chosen the walk on the beach as the best time to do it.

Holding Hermione's hand he pulled her to a stop. As she turned and looked at him Harry dropped onto one knee and pulled a small package from his pocket. "Hermione, I know we are still young but I also know that there will never be anyone who could replace you in my heart. Will you marry me, stay with me forever?" he said to her surprise.

There was absolutely no hesitation from Hermione as she threw her arms around his neck and answered with an enthusiastic "Yes, Harry, Yes." They left the beach hand in hand ready to spend the rest of their lives together on this wonderful tropical island.

The end.


End file.
